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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

I've had to tell my piano teacher that I was allergic to perfume. I usually can stop breathing when I am in an elevator and someone comes in with a strong smell, but since the piano lesson lasts one hour... It was better than fainting in her studio!

I don't know Marty. All I know is that I couldn't swing around that corner fast enough to get away from a blast in the face! Like a big tuba blowing your hair back! I felt like a snake jumping out of its skin. GET me outta hereee! EeeeeeK!

I see that someone disapproves of this topic. Sorry, it can be a real problem for us.

Let me say that what got me thinking about it was two events, occurring the same afternoon. Student #1, young lady, had smelly feet. Every time I went to write on the music, I had to hold my breath. Student #2, the very next lesson in fact, must have had kimchi for lunch, because as I was focused on her phrasing, I thought I heard a squeal coming from the other room, only within about ten seconds, I nearly dropped dead. I asked her politely if she needed to use the rest room for a minute, but she looked at me with a most perplexed expression, so I let it drop, and kept my distance the remainder of the lesson.

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"Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn." -- Richard Henry DannFull-time Private Piano Teacher offering Piano Lessons in Olympia, WA. www.mypianoteacher.comCertified by the American College of Musicians; member NGPT, MTNA, WSMTA, OMTA

Miss Manners says we should ignore personal embarrassments that the person can't easily change or fix (e.g., a fart that has already occurred) and politely point out the things that the person can (e.g., spinach stuck between teeth). I personally wouldn't say anything about either case, especially the gas situation. But if I felt compelled to raise the issue at all, I *definitely* would do it directly with the student rather than talk to the parents.

John, I think it's a very good topic. Surely most piano teachers have encountered these problems.

Your girl who broke wind might not have even been aware of it. It's rare but if they are really concentrating on playing this can happen. I have found that most people are horrified that they have let one drop in the middle of the lesson. A little humour makes them feel easier about it. I often make some joke about 'bum notes' or 'not quite the phrasing I was thinking of' etc.

The body odour is much more common. I keep a plug in air freshener in my room. When it gets warm (rare in the UK!) I open the door and have a fan switched on. You get to know which students smell a bit ripe and can plan ahead. I have to say it tends to be the boys rather than the girls. However, I think the smelly feet can be down to poor quality footwear for girls. I like them to remove shoes when they come in to keep the carpets a little cleaner but sometimes it is better that they keep them on.

A one off accident is acceptable but for someone to do it constantly but be discreet about it is not. The bathroom is there for that purpose and there is no excuse not to adhere to that. Its manners. I would create a simple A4 sheet of 'house rules' and put it in a prominant place for all students to see. Make it humerous by ending it with .......break the rules and be on the recieving end of my cattle prod.They will take on board the rules but the cattle prod bit will make it light hearted. You could add a touch of sinsiter uncertainty by having a cattle prod by the piano and a room you're constantly telling them not to enter. Hey presto a room that smells of a meadow!

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We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. We are the music of your life.

If you want to be really trendy, light up some incense. When my teenage daughter's cave she calls a room gets too much, and before I have found the old dinner plate under her bed to find the source of the odor, some incense really wipes it out and that retro-sixties stuff is really popular with the kids! Don't use too much or you'll get a headache, but a little is nice! Offering them gum, putting perfume on right before they walk in, having a small clip fan by your music stand are all old tricks to masking what ever they may offer up in the RIPE DAYS OF SUMMER!